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# Animal Sizes

#### by Mark D F Shirley

The copyright of this article remains with the original author. Articles may be copied or distributed freely for personal non-profit use, provided that the author is properly credited.

One thing that the fourth edition of Ars Magica lacks is a scale of sizes. Humans are said to be Size +0, and several animals are given in the mundane Bestiary beginning on p. 259 in the main rules, however the list is far from complete. As Size is an important factor when dealing with magics that affect animals (creating familiars, for example, or casting Creo Animal spells), the following chart has been compiled. It includes many mundane animals whose size should be meaningful to the average player of Ars Magica. The source for most of these is the Mediaeval Bestiary. Animals whose names are underlined have been given a size that differs from official sources, either through contradiction between sources or because I disagree with the original source. Animals in italics could not be found in official sources and have been added. Only 'natural' beasts have been included, even if credited with supernatural powers.

From the Mammals section, the following generalisations can be calculated. Note that Size is a combination of length and weight. If an animal is longer than 5' but weighs less than 100lb (a snake, for example), it may well belong in the Size +0 category. Likewise, birds are sized according to wingspan, as they are invariably lighter than an equivalently-sized mammal. Also note that Size is an exponential scale - the difference between Size +4 and Size +5 is larger than the difference between Size +3 and Size +4. Average values are charted below - the range is quite large, particularly in the categories greater than +0.

SIZE | mean length | mean weight
-5 | < 1' | < ½lb
-4 | 1' | 2lb
-3 | 2' | 5lb
-2 | 3' | 15lb
-1 | 4' | 40lb
+0 | 5½' | 120lb
+1 | 6½' | 350lb (~3 cwt)
+2 | 8' | 950lb (~8½ cwt)
+3 | 11' | 2700lb (~1.2 tons)
+4 | 16' | 7800lb (~3½ tons)
+5 | 22' | 22, 500lb (~10 tons)

### Mammals

SIZE | Domestic mammals | Herbivores | Predators | Others
-5 |  | mouse |  |
-4 |  | mole, rabbit | weasel |
-3 | cat | hedgehog, hare | fox, otter, polecat | infant human
-2 | hound | beaver | badger, wild cat | child
-1 |  | wild pig / boar, hind, wild goat | wolf, hyaena, lynx | ape, adolescent
+0 | sheep, ram, deerhound | antelope, hart |  | adult human
+1 | pony | reindeer | leopard, panther |
+2 | horse, camel, wild ass, cow, mule | stag | lion, tiger, bear |
+3 | ox, draught horse | elk (= moose) | polar bear |
+4 |  | rhinoceros |  |
+5 |  | elephant |  |

### Birds

SIZE |
-5 | sparrow
-4 | lark, nightingale, swallow, plover, bat, crow
-3 | hawk, owl, raven, quail, cock, magpie, dove
-2 | eagle, peacock, vulture
-1 | stork, swan
+0 |
+1 |
+2 |
+3 |
+4 |
+5 |

### Serpents and Fish

SIZE | Serpents | Fish
-5 |  |
-4 | dispa | remora
-3 | salamander, sepus | eel, pike, grey mullet, red mullet,
-2 | asp, javelin snake |
-1 | water serpent |
+0 | horned snake | dolphin, swordfish
+1 |  | shark
+2 |  | crocodile
+3 |  |
+4 |  |
+5 |  |
+6 |  | whale